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Dragonscale Collar

Submitted by HonoredMule on Sun, 10/30/2011 - 04:36

This is not an original design, but a reproduction of the sterling silver collar seen on Urban Maille. However, unlike theirs, mine has a material cost of about $25 rather than roughly $800-1,200 (depending on your silver supplier), and considering that looks quite decent. I used my typical 18g 1/4" ID sheer-cut rings for the larger, and ~19g 5/32" stainless steel machine cut rings for the smaller. 18g rings can work for the smaller with dragonscale in general, but the fit just a little too snug and you'd likely not be able to curl a full-width collar around a small neck.

There is a fatal flaw in the original design which is never mentioned on Urban Maille's page describing it: the inner rows have nothing but gravity holding them against the body. When you bend forward, the inside rows spill out and spread and this looks anything but elegant. To remedy this, my version runs a stainless steel wire through the innermost rings, drawn tight to hold the shape. To prevent warping the shape or lifting around/behind the shoulders, the wire needs to be a very flexible gauge. 24g stainless steel works nicely.

The original falls short on advising a good clasp/joining method in the back as well—I find my tapered ends and chain+lobster claw work quite satisfactorily. With the wire added, other methods are likely to be less suitable than they would otherwise.